Mache Salad Greens

Mache, also known as corn salad, rapunzel, field salad, or lamb’s lettuce is a little known salad green with a mild lettuce like flavor.

This easily to cultivated vegetable can even be found growing wild in some areas.

Mache Greens for Fresh Winter Salads

Mache’s claim to fame is its cold hardiness and ability to survive and continue growing under very cold weather conditions.

This is a great edible plant to grow for harvesting leafy greens during the late fall and early spring periods when fresh produce is not readily available from the garden. Mache can be found flourishing long before most other leafy greens have established new growth at the start of spring.

Planting and Growing Mache

The large, round seeds are planted up until the middle of fall for late harvests, and the plants will also over winter in the open garden with no protection. Plant mache seeds in rows or scatter them thickly over a raised bed and cover with half an inch of compost or garden soil.

As they mature, mache plants will form a rosette of medium to dark green leaves that are elongated or slightly cup shaped. Thin the plants as required to provide room for them to reach full size and transplant or eat the thinned mache leaves.

Mache Varieties and Kitchen Uses

The simplest way to prepare mache is to use it as a salad ingredient without cooking. The flavor of the delicate leaves is very mild, almost to the point of being bland.

Thanks for reminding be about mache. It had somehow fallen off my seeds-to-order list this year. I first discovered it from a friend returning from Italy where it’s more popular. I’ve noticed that Whole Foods in my area now sells it fresh and it’s NOT inexpensive.

Kenny
I’ve just come accross your site and have looked at the link for “The World’s Best Compost” book by Rod Turner.
I can’t seem to find out where he is from and if the ingredients that he may tell me of in his book are available in Canada – Manitoba specifically.
Do you have any other info about him or his book? I have not figured out if this page is a blog for you or not. So I am not aware how it works. I will read further – so far have enjoyed everything that I have read.
Regards
May

Kenny Point

Hello May, I have corresponded with Rod Turner a few times and I believe that he is from Australia. The site at The World’s Best Compost is not my website but is an affiliate product. The ingredients that he recommends and uses to create his compost are available, or can be grown in Canada.

rose atkin

kenny, where do we buy lamb’s lettuce seeds? It is great to eat and very nutritious. I live in portland vic and do not know where to get some seeds from. rose

Kenny Point

Hi Rose, lamb’s lettuce is pretty common and offered at many seed suppliers. Try Sustainable Seed or Baker Creek or do a Web search for mache or corn salad seeds as it is usually listed under those names.

ruth

Lamb’s lettuce is also called Mache or Corn Salad. I bought seeds from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. They have a large selection of fall/winter gardening seeds and quality products – in fact I received their fall/winter catalogue recently. Two thumbs up from me! Anyone interested in fall/winter food production needs to read Eliot Coleman’s books, particularly Four-Seasons Gardening. You’ll view gardening in the US in a new light.

About the Gardener

Gardening is a wonderful gift that I've developed the hard way... through trial and error! I hope to share the incredible lessons learned and make things a lot easier for you out in the organic vegetable garden.